A piece of the past with the present

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Every time I have to cover a story related to the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center I always hope that I will be able to forget that day and the so many lives affected by the tragedy.

Today was not different. It’s a beautiful spring day and being down near the Ground Zero site was probably the last place I wanted to be. But covering one of the last pieces being hoisted onto One World Trade Center did provide a glimmer of closure.

It’s taken way too long but the site is being transformed into more of a place of remembrance – a place, at least for me, that I can go near and not be totally engulfed by the memories of what I saw and what happened on that tragic day.

While walking around downtown to find spot to show the hoisting, I found a mural honoring those that were lost. Putting that in the same frame of the spire being lifted I thought would say a lot: a piece of the past with that of the present.

As I made frames I noticed people stopped taking photos of that last piece being hoisted. And I even saw some people smiling as they looked up: closure for some, maybe, and for others maybe not.

It’s a good thing that once again the skyline will soon be marked with the tallest building in Manhattan, in the location that once carried that claim to fame.

What a poor choice for the first photo, showing a pair of sneakers hanging off the wires. This is a typical sign of a local drug hangout, or meeting place. I am sure the photographer didn’t realize that, but then, that’s the difference of being “with it” as they used to say, verses just “cool” today, and clueless in NY.